1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of hand tools, and more particular, a single hand tool that combines a hammer head, crescent wrench and pipe wrench.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inventors have been patenting multi-purpose hand tools since 1866, but no one has ever patented a tool that combines a hammer head, crescent wrench and pipe wrench, as in the present invention. In U.S. Pat. No. 56,166 (Boardman, 1866), the inventor described a tool with a hammer head, a claw for drawing nails, a pipe wrench, a screw driver bit and a rectangular socket that serves as a nut wrench. U.S. Pat. No. 74,568 (Meeker, 1868) discloses a combination hammer and screw wrench. The tool includes a claw for driving nails, and the claw and fixed jaw of the wrench are formed from the same piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 107,790 (Lawbaugh, 1870) provides a combination tool that includes a pair of pincer jaws, a slot for drawing nails, a hammer head and a screwdriver. U.S. Pat. No. 317,738 (Crosby, 1885) covers a combination tool comprised of a wrench, a claw for drawing nails, a screw driver blade, and a hammer head. In U.S. Pat. No. 513,271 (Matthews, 1894), the inventor described a tool with a hammer head and claw and a wrench. The bottom of the hammer head serves as the upper (non-moveable) portion of the wrench. The lower portion of the wrench is moved by a dowel pin and a series of dowel holes.
U.S. Pat. No. 708,447 (Wood et al., 1902) covers a tool that includes a monkey wrench, a hammer head, and a screwdriver. The handle of the tool has grooves that can be used as spoke wrenches. U.S. Pat. No. 711,408 (Maggard, 1902) provides a tool with a hammer head and claw. The claw also serves as the top of an adjustable wrench. The claw and slidable jaw of the wrench optionally include oppositely-directed teeth so that the device can be used as a pipe wrench.
The combination tool described in U.S. Pat. No. 965,198 (Kinsel et al., 1910) comprises a nut wrench, a small pipe or nipple wrench for detaching gas burners or other small devices, pliers with a cavity for extracting wire nails, a nail puller for more conventionally sized nails, a hammer and a screwdriver. U.S. Pat. No. 990,543 (Gilchrist, 1911) provides a tool that functions as a hammer, a nail puller, a wire cutter, a wire twister, and a staple puller. This same tool also includes a pair of pipe tongs, a rivet set, a leather punch, and a screwdriver or chisel.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,280,802 (Miller, 1918) provides a tool with a hammer head and claw that also serve as a pipe wrench and a nut wrench. This tool also has a suspension eye or ring for fitting the tool on the belt of the user or hanging the tool from a nail. U.S. Pat. No. 1,387,761 (Cannelles, 1921) discloses a tool with a hammer head, the lower part of which acts as the stationary top section of both a serrated and a non-serrated wrench. This tool includes a wire cutter. U.S. Pat. No. 1,413,798 (Shinn, 1922) is similar to the Miller and Cannelles patents in that it describes a tool with a hammer head that also acts as the upper section of both a pipe wrench and a nut wrench. The hammer head has a V-shaped slot in it for pulling nails, and the handle has a slot and openings in it for holding wire when it is being cut. The end of the handle that is opposite the hammer head forms a screwdriver and an “alligator” opening for stretching barb-wire.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,421,220 (Hart, 1922) provides a combination tool with a hammer head, a pipe wrench and a wire cutter. U.S. Pat. No. 1,453,155 (Martinez, 1923) discloses a tool with a hammer head, a pipe wrench, and a wire cutter. The tool described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,469,472 (Bangert, 1923) includes a hammer head, a wrench that can be used as either a monkey wrench or a pipe wrench, and a pipe cutter. U.S. Pat. No. 1,609,507 (Bucciarelli, 1926) covers a wrench that also has a hammer head and claw. U.S. Pat. No. 1,866,426 (Siegrist, 1932) discloses a combination tool comprising a pipe wrench, a screwdriver and a hammer head.
The tool described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,091,538 (Wasseth, 1937) comprises a hammer head, a nut wrench, a monkey wrench, a screwdriver, and a saw blade. Interestingly, no patents were issued for combination hand tools for the four-decade period between 1937 and 1980. The next patent to cover a combination hand tool was U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,987 (Charette, 1980), in which the inventor described a tool with a hammer head, a crescent wrench, and a screw wrench. U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,715 (Bane, III, 1993) discloses a tool called a “boatswain mate” that comprises a hammer head, a crescent wrench, an aperture in the handle for receiving a lanyard, a marline spike portion that can be used for separating the strands of a rope knot, and a screwdriver tip.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,659 (Park, 1994) marked the beginning of more complicated multipurpose hand tools, along the lines of the currently marketed LEATHERMAN®. The Park patent covers a multipurpose tool with four different working stations. Included in these working stations are a pair of nipping edges for cutting electric wire, scissoring edges for cutting a thin metal plate, a pair of jaw plates for insertion of snap rings or bearings, a pair of small serrations for holding a small pipe, a pair of cutting edges for cutting wires, a hammer, a pair of large serrations, a pair of pressing sections, and pairs of stripping sections for stripping the covering from electric wires. The tool also includes an adjustable wrench, a detachable screwdriver, a socket wrench, and bolt cutting holes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,354 (Long et al., 1998) provides a multipurpose tool that can open container caps, hammer nails, pull nails, act as a screwdriver, loosen and tighten a nut, open bottle caps, pry off lids, act as a vice grip tool, and act as a C clamp.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,754 (Brown, 2001) discloses a wrench for use in firefighting. On one end of the wrench is a spanner part with a projecting claw for engaging a pin on the circumference of a pipe or a hose coupling ring to be rotated by the tool.
Despite the numerous inventions discussed above, no one has yet patented a tool that has a hammer head, a pipe wrench and a crescent wrench, where the pipe wrench and crescent wrench are located on opposite ends of the tool to facilitate working in tight spaces, and where the hammer head is separate from the pipe wrench to prevent undue wear on the pipe wrench.